Taiwan Today

Whenever Chinese drama is mentioned, one immediately thinks of Chinese opera. Before the Republic, this was justifiable. In a broad sense, so-called opera was the only form of Chinese drama. Today this equation is no longer applicable. Modern Chinese drama is considerably more than opera.

Out of the Chinese revolution were born democratic ideas of liberty and equality; and out of this revolutionary spirit came the stage play and motion picture. These new art forms represented the thoughts, aspirations and feelings of the people. They were written and performed by the people for the entertainment and instruction of the masses. Since the Republic was founded in 1911, the two new dramatic forms have marched shoulder to shoulder with their elder sister, Chinese opera. All three are expressions of the national herit­age and all exemplify a deep concern for the welfare of the country.

The drama of the Republic of China emerged from this national feeling. China has had drama in the form of music and dancing since history began, but "spoken" drama or the stage play is definitely a product of the Republic.

The forefathers of the Republic, under the leadership of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, started the legitimate theater to aid the cause of the revolution. When the Tung Meng Hui (Society of the common cause) was founded in 1907, Chinese students in Japan discovered that the spoken drama was one of their strongest weapons against the corrupt and tyrannical Manchu government. The stage play was simple to produce and was easily understood by the common people. The students formed the Chun Yang Dramatic Society, which won much applause from audiences in Japan.

After founding of the Republic, the society went to China to perform in Shanghai. Plays concerned with nationalism and heroism proved to be exceedingly popular, as were later productions based on the heroic acts of revolutionary martyrs. Examples are "Chiu Chin" and "Huang Hua Kang." These dramatic performances soon spread to other towns and cities. They were called "wen ming hsi" or "new drama." The actors spoke and acted in a natural manner, using everyday speech, in contrast to the highly stylized acting and singing of the Chinese opera. Often they improvised without scripts or rehearsals. Given only the bare bones of a plot to go by, actors themselves worked out the action and dialogue spontaneously on the stage. The common people enjoyed this dramatic form immensely.

Chinese intellectuals, however, considered this informal "new drama" too vulgar, partly because spontaneity often made for ribaldry. In 1919, Dr. Hu Shih started the Literary Renaissance (May 4 Movement), which advocated the use of everyday speech (pai hua) in all forms of writing.

With the renaissance, scholars turned to writing for the stage in pai hua. At the same time, they learned dramaturgy and the art of direction from the western theater. With the encouragement of Dr. Hu Shih, Zola's Nana and Ibsen's An Enemy of the People were translated into colloquial Chinese in the New Youth magazine. Dr. Hu himself wrote a one-act play, "The Most Important Thing in Life," to inspire young talent to write plays in pai hua. Since then, many western plays have been produced in translated versions by pro­fessionals and amateurs alike. The most popular were Dumas' "Camille" and Wilde's "Lady Windemere's Fan."

In time, translated plays were found too alien for the tastes of the general public. Writers began to produce original plays about the life and problems of their own people. Chinese nationalism was the subject of many plays. Others touched on the Confucian virtue of filial piety or on devotion to duty in the service of the country.

The outstanding dramatist of the time was Chen Ta-pei, whose "The Hero and the Beauty," "My High and Mighty Father" and "Conscience" are considered early masterpieces of the Chinese legitimate theater. All depicted social situations of the period. Chen was also the founder of the Dramatic Associ­ation of the Republic of China, which was mostly composed of students and faculty of the Normal College, Peiping Women's Normal College and Tsinghua University.

In general, however, Chinese opera continued to be the favorite with Chinese audiences. Now that men and women were proclaimed equal by the Republic, it was no longer considered indecent for men and women to appear on the same stage, and the all-male and all-female theatrical troupes became a thing of the past.

Mei Lan-fang became the idol of Chinese opera after the death of Tan Hsin-pei, top star during the Manchu reign. Mei, the famous female impersonator, caught the public eye in 1919 and kept it. He died in August, 1961. In 1914, Chi Ju-shan began to write new plays for this great artist. More than 30 were written to show off Mei's talents in dancing and singing as well as acting. Such plays as "Chang O's Flight to the Moon" and "Tai Yu Burying Flowers" made Mei's name known abroad. The western world recognized his talent when he toured Europe and the United States at the height of his career. He won high praise and received an honorary doctorate from an American university.

The motion picture was introduced into China by a Spaniard in 1907. But it was not until 1918 that Tan Tu-yu and Kuan Hai-feng formed a film society and the Chinese started to make their own movies. The motion picture society studied the techniques of moviemaking while getting their material from native lore and legend. With the public showing of "The Pink Skeleton," the art began to achieve popularity. In 1923, Tan and Kuan established the Star Motion Picture Company. Ten years later talkies appeared and film versions of traditional stage plays and Chinese opera librettos became more popular than before.

With the Manchurian crisis in 1931, there was an upsurge in patriotism. Many dramatic clubs were formed in colleges and schools to awaken Chinese patriotism in the fight against the Japanese.

At this time, the theater movement was greatly abetted by the formation of two new dramatic schools: the first National School of Drama and the Touring Theater Troupe of China. The drama school was established by Chang Tao-fan, Chen Li-fu and Lo Chia-luen, all political leaders of their time, in Nanking in 1936. The school trained young men and women in playwriting and stagecraft. Many prominent actors and directors now in Taiwan are its graduates, including Wang Sheng-shan and Tsui Hsiao-ping. The touring troupe was led by Tang Huai-chiu, with his elder daughter Tang Jo-ching, as the star. This group introduced such classics of Chinese drama as "Thunder and Storm," "Sunrise" and "Resurrection" at the Carlton Theater in Shanghai, then took their plays on the road to Peiping, Tientsin and other cities in the north.

These two groups did much to disseminate modern drama throughout China. With their rise, the formerly popular "new drama" came into disfavor and gradually died out.

During the war years, beginning in 1937, spoken drama emerged as the major form of entertainment. Opera stars in occupied areas refused to make stage appearances in defiance of the orders of Japanese and puppet officials. Western movies were forbidden in Shanghai and other Japanese-controlled cities, and Chinese movies were limited by the expense necessary for their filming.

Under these conditions, the stage play found a golden chance for development. Be­tween 1942 to 1945, more than a dozen theaters in occupied Shanghai enjoyed long runs and full houses. Most noteworthy among the theatrical groups of this time was the Ku Kan (Struggle) theatrical troupe. Directed by Jolin Huang, it strove for a higher standard of performance and stimulated patriotism in subtle ways undetected by the occupation troops. Such subversive methods were specially successful in the plays "Gentlemen of the Beams" and "Lower Depths," and such historical plays as "Wen Tien-hsiang."

In unoccupied parts of China, especially Chungking, the government's encouragement of the play form awakened popular interest. Many were war plays. Li Man-kwei, Tsao Yu and Chang Chung-hsiang won nationwide fame for their plays of this period. Several of their productions, such as "Heaven Challenges," "Peking Man" and "The Model Tea­cher," now rank as modern classics of Chinese theater.

Ante-Bellum Restoration

Following victory over the Japanese, the theatrical scene in China tended to slip back to the level of pre-war days. Chinese opera and western movies regained their supremacy. Spoken drama returned to a minor role. New forms appeared on the scene—the native Chinese movie and provincial operas, folk dances and musical dramas.

The nation's outstanding opera stars, Mei Lan-fang and Chen Yen-chiu, both female impersonators, came out of retirement and recaptivated their audiences.

There were also experiments to fuse opera and the stage play. This was beautifully and successfully exemplified by "The Taiping Rebellion," based on the uprising of almost a hundred years before. Singing parts were reduced to a minimum and spoken parts (pai) were rendered in normal voice instead of the traditional operatic falsetto. Costumes, setting and make-up followed the conventions of legitimate theater. The result was not unlike American musical comedy. In spite of the success, the form never developed further and soon died out altogether.

Such native films as "The Barber's Dream of Wealth" and "Remoteness of Love" showed progress in directing and acting largely under the influence of western movies. Many play-wrights, directors and actors who could see no future in the spoken drama were drawn into the movie industry. Moviemaking be­came a good investment. Many profit-seekers were pleased with prospects of penetrating into the interior of China and southeast Asia.

The only flicker of life in the legitimate drama at that time was in the National School of Drama in Nanking and the Municipal School of Drama in Shanghai.

In 1949, the Communists took over the mainland, thus shattering dramatic progress along with freedom and China's other aspira­tions. When the national government moved to Taiwan, many people followed. The center of China's drama also shifted to Taiwan.

Traditional Chinese opera still dominates the theatrical world in free China. Schools, colleges, business organizations and the various branches of the armed forces have their own opera groups. Outstanding is the Ta Peng Theatrical Troupe of the Chinese Air Force. In 1958, it toured Europe and was well received. In Taiwan, opera has had many stage renovations and innovations. Musicians, formerly in full view of the audience, were separated from the acting area by a screen. The elaborate embroidered silk backdrop was re­placed by an unobtrusive dull-colored background curtain. The plots of some of the traditional plays were altered to suit modern sentiments. Such opera stars as Lee Hsiang-feng, Chang Yu-fan and Chin Shu-chin arrived from the mainland via Hongkong. All have avid followings in free China and the Chinese opera stage is more colorful than ever.

Movies in the Hinterland

The western movie still spells high enter­tainment value in Taipei and other big cities. But in the small towns, native movies, produced in both Taiwanese and Mandarin, break boxoffice records. Native films are more widely accepted in the countryside because of the language and because the material falls within the people's frame of reference. Recent films made by the Central Motion Picture Company in Taiwan and other produced by companies in Hongkong have shown consider­able progress in techniques, acting, direction and scripting. Several have been a warded prizes in all-Asia competitions.

The legitimate drama also has made progress. In 1955, Li Man-kwei's "The Pretender" enjoyed a long run in Taipei. This was a character play based on the usurpation and downfall of the historical figure Wang Mang.

Following Li Man-kwei's departure for the United States and Europe, the theater again went into a decline. It was not until 1960, when she returned, that it was revitalized through her efforts.

Little Theater Movement

Miss Li started a little theater movement. With the support and cooperation of the government, civic leaders, teachers and stu­dents and the Chung Hua Drama Group, she founded the Unities Drama Club in Taipei with a branch in Kaohsiung in south Taiwan. Its varied and interesting repertory includes such works as "Interlude of the Times," an adaptation of Lindsay and Crouse's "The Great Sebastians," and Liu Shih-fu's "Dreams and Hopes." Its plans call for six new pro­ductions a season.

The little theater movement, once it got its start, quickened interest generally. Nu­merous small troupes have been formed, and some are constantly on tour throughout the island.

A bright future for the Chinese theater lies in the hands of enthusiastic amateurs, a few professionals and the faculty and students of the drama departments of the National Academy of Arts and the Political Staff College, the Foo Hsing School of Dramatic Arts and the Ta Peng Operatic Training School. Each of these groups is working hard to reinforce the prestige of the Chinese stage. If present trends continue, China can expect to see more and better plays, operas and other productions in the next few years.